1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to wind shear detection and more specifically, to wind shear detection with airborne weather radar systems.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Known airborne weather radar systems used by the commercial and general aviation type aircraft are designed to detect water associated with precipitation. Usually, high water content indicates high rainfall rate which might be associated with turbulent weather conditions.
Newer airborne weather radar systems have the additional capability of performing doppler signal processing for detecting turbulence. These radar systems compare spectral bandwidth of the return signals against a threshold. If the threshold is exceeded, then it is assumed that the scanned area contains turbulent conditions.
None of the existing airborne weather radar systems, however, have the capability of detecting wind shear. Characteristics of wind shear associated with microburst phenomenon are such that wind shear cannot be detected by conventional doppler signal processing methods normally used for turbulence detection. As wind shear can cause considerable loss of altitude at critical phases of flight, an airborne wind shear detection weather radar is needed.